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borisof007FIRST Member Star(s)Indication of membership status - One star is a FIRST member, two stars is Double Gold HR Manager, Engineering

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HOLY SHIT I had no idea Bethany was lacking some basic knowledge. She's female USA Gavin. But the game is made soooo much better via the inclusion of Chris and Patrick, because both can be equally dumb as well (Christ, especially Chris).

borisof007FIRST Member Star(s)Indication of membership status - One star is a FIRST member, two stars is Double Gold HR Manager, Engineering

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This year I decided to go with Alex to Austin early so we could enjoy the 4th of July in Texas in addition to some fancy eating without the massive crowds that RTX typically brings. I thought I'd write down a few notes about my trip and share them here

- Barley Swine is a fucking amazing restaurant. We splurged and got the 10 course chefs tasting menu. It was worth $350 for both of us.

- Hopdoddy's Oreo milkshake is still the best milkshake I've had. Ever

- There's this tiny little bar/tex-mex restaurant I think on 6th street(?) named Chupacabra that's fucking AMAZING. And seriously, all of the wait staff are attractive AND they're interesting. Shit - the most interesting funny one there was a gay black guy who was super into Overwatch and was chatting us up about Doomfist on the PTR. Also all the female wait staff are instagram models.

- Micheladas is surprisingly good - I think I saw @Kyle there eating on Saturday? I didn't want to bother him but I'm like 99% sure it was him sitting in a booth with 2 other girls next to a window. Either way - I had the chimichanga and it was delicious as fuuuuuuuuuuck. Would eat again.

- 4th of July in Austin was lackluster! Seriously! It's TEXAS!!! Everything's supposed to be bigger or something like that but really? What a shit fireworks show - I've seen middle of nowhere towns in Pennsylvania throw up bigger shows than that. Totally not worth standing in 85 degree weather at night sweating my balls off.

- The bats coming out of the bridge on congress is fun to watch, also again in heat that's way too hot, and too many fucking visitors (ourselves included) to get a good view. Gets way packed. Do yourselves a favor and go into the neighboring area where the bats fly over (southeast of the south end of the bridge) and they'll fly right over you.

- RTX itself was ...packed. WAY too much. It felt like less attractions than last year with 15,000 more people with way worse ways to cope with the increased foot traffic. Metal detectors were just a small part of the problem.

- Booth and store lines being capped when there's almost an entire hall worth of empty space they could have used as a way for people to line up seems like a giant waste and just contributes to people floating nearby just to get a chance to get into line. THIS IS NOT SCALABLE. Find a new solution.

- Escape room - lmfao the line for that was so stupid. Nope, didn't even bother trying it.

- Didn't bother with autographs, no one interesting worthwhile by the time weekenders got to sign up. Fuck you VIP (I might get VIP next year whatever blow me)

- I got to meet @Ray !! He's super nice, got his shirt and an autograph. HE'S worthwhile and I didn't have to sign up for shit. That's how you do it.

- I also got to meet Jess Kovic, Adam's wife from Funhaus! She's SUPER sweet and Alex and I bought t-shirts from her.

- Pretty sure I saw Anna Hullum somewhere on the show floor but I didn't have time to say hi in person

- Got to meet Luke McKay from the old RT comics and Balls 2 That. Bought a book and had him autograph it. He's a super cool dude, I play Hearthstone with him from time to time :D

- The RT Store was nice, had some good extras. Kinda annoyed to find out on Sunday that shirts were buy 1 get 1 free after I spent $400 on shirts on Saturday.

- Southwest lost that same bag of $400 worth of shit on my way back home

borisof007FIRST Member Star(s)Indication of membership status - One star is a FIRST member, two stars is Double Gold HR Manager, Engineering

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Seriously?

I checked the site at 8:01 AM (after the RTX site didn't update with a fucking link to use your autograph codes. I had to go to twitter first searching for it in a panic) and instantly I see that over 2/3 of the sessions were already sold out.

So why bother giving weekend pass people autograph codes if we can't fucking use them? I'm not going to be nice about this. Unless you get a VIP badge - don't fucking bother trying to get an autograph. I'm sorry but VIP shouldn't be getting two codes, it REALLY fucks it for the rest of us and makes the experience unenjoyable. I could pull the "I've been a fan for 14 years, registered member, sponsor and double gold" horseshit but in the end that doesn't matter. What matters is that the company values money more than they do the fandom at this point. At least that's how it comes across.

Either reduce VIP to one code, or make it a random lottery. The system was unfair before, it's unfair now. It needs to change.

borisof007FIRST Member Star(s)Indication of membership status - One star is a FIRST member, two stars is Double Gold HR Manager, Engineering

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So I started having really bad pains recently. They're debilitating - I went to the ER 2 weeks ago because of it, and my doctor was curious finally about what's up so she ordered a chest x-ray, EKG, and an Ultrasound.

Chest X-Ray - ClearEKG - No problem

Ultrasound - ......Not so good

So it turns out that having a shitty diet can do more than just affect your weight, as well as bad genetics. When you eat a super shitty american diet like most of us do, your gall bladder has to work extra hard to produce bile to help digest and extract nutrients from the stuff you eat. If it doesn't do its job, whatever you eat pretty much just passes right through your intestines and a few things happen. A - you get what appears to be diarrhea; B - You're not getting nearly enough nutrients out of the food you eat; C - Sometimes you feel full for no reason and you feel a pressure on your right side just underneath your rib cage

This is because your gall bladder either can't produce the bile to help you digest, or because nothing is getting through because something is blocking the duct leading out of the gall bladder.

Turns out I have multiple gallstones that occasionally will attempt to pass through the bile duct leading out of the bladder. When that happens - it's EXCRUCIATING. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. These "attacks" of pain last for hours. The last one I had put me in the hospital after 7 hours of pain and no sleep.

I already met with my general physician, a specialist, and now a surgeon. I have my pre op call coming up soon with surgery scheduled for later this month. I'm having an organ literally pulled out of my body. The more I think about what's involved with the surgery the more I feel like I'll have an anxiety attack. Ugh.

I'm not religious, so I'd rather not have thoughts or prayers from anyone. If anything take this and share this knowledge with others. I'm lucky to have caught this at 31. My mom had hers removed in her 50's and her stone (singular) was a huge 3 inch rock compared to my millimeter things.

If I die (highly unlikely) - RT should get all of my shit. They've provided me with more love and smiles than anything has in my life. Specifically achievement hunter - I have a feeling they'll get more of a kick out of my stuff than anyone.

"Dozens of people, including at least ten children, have been killed in what is suspected to be one of the deadliest chemical attacks in Syria in years, multiple activist groups say.

Airstrikes hit the rebel-held city of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province on Tuesday morning, giving off a "poisonous gas," according to Anas al-Diab, an activist in Aleppo.

Many of the casualties came as a result of asphyxiation, local doctors say. Videos circulating on social media purporting to be from the scene show people, including children, who appear unresponsive; others are seen struggling to breathe or wearing oxygen masks.

A doctor in a hospital close to Khan Sheikhoun told CNN: "Today around 7:30 a.m., about 125 injuries arrived to our hospital. Twenty-five of them were already dead, 70 to 80% of the wounded people were kids and women.

"The symptoms were pale skin, sweating, narrow or pin-eye pupils, very intense respiratory detachments. Those symptoms match the usage of sarin."

Fares al-Jundi, a doctor who lives in a nearby village and rushed to the hospital after the airstrikes, choked with emotion as he spoke, describing how whole families were killed, mothers and their children. They died of asphyxiation, foam covered their mouths. Many died suddenly, he said.

borisof007FIRST Member Star(s)Indication of membership status - One star is a FIRST member, two stars is Double Gold HR Manager, Engineering

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I rarely share this kind of stuff, mostly because I try to base my worldview on logic and fact and most of these "studies" are rarely based in it. However, Phys.org (My main physics news website) headlined a study on their front page.

Went through it, read the study myself. While this stuff won't kill you it's certainly alarming. From the study:

"Titanium dioxide is an inert and insoluble material that is commonly used for white pigmentation in paints, paper and plastics. It is also an active ingredient in mineral-based sunscreens for pigmentation to block ultraviolet light.

However, it can enter the digestive system through toothpastes, as titanium dioxide is used to create abrasion needed for cleaning. The oxide is also used in some chocolate to give it a smooth texture; in donuts to provide color; and in skimmed milks for a brighter, more opaque appearance which makes the milk more palatable.

A 2012 Arizona State University study tested 89 common food products including gum, Twinkies, and mayonnaise and found that they all contained titanium dioxide. About five percent of products in that study contained titanium dioxide as nanoparticles. Dunkin Donuts stopped using powdered sugar with titanium dioxide nanoparticles in 2015 in response to pressure from the advocacy group As You Sow.

Acute exposures did not have much effect, but chronic exposure diminished the absorptive projections on the surface of intestinal cells called microvilli. With fewer microvilli, the intestinal barrier was weakened, metabolism slowed and some nutrients—iron, zinc, and fatty acids, specifically—were more difficult to absorb. Enzyme functions were negatively affected, while inflammation signals increased."

borisof007FIRST Member Star(s)Indication of membership status - One star is a FIRST member, two stars is Double Gold HR Manager, Engineering

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I wish I had grabbed a screenshot. Was playing Overwatch on XBL last night with my gf. She's higher level than me because she only plays on console whereas I split my play time between console and PC. It's also quite expensive. Fucking loot boxes.

Anyway, I try to add 1 good player I team up with over the course of a play session. I do this each time because, if some people don't know, Overwatch will automatically try and group you with people on your friends list or with anyone you mark as a preferred player. You don't have to be in a party beforehand either, but it's a random chance. Last night I got paired up with someone that was pretty high level the last time I saw him, something like 450.

Last night he/she (because I honestly don't know) was 750 and the person they were grouped with was 620. And everyone else on my team had multiple stars. I'm only level 94. My gf is about 150.

The match was "slightly" imbalanced in our favor. I think we outleveled our opponents by about 700 levels at least. I know that skill doesn't equate to player level, but generally if you invest enough time in something you get good at it. I'm just flattered that the ELO system behind quick play (yes they keep track of that too, they just don't tell you like they do for ranked. Same thing happens in LoL, and most other games) decided I should be matched up with them. I don't want to tell my gf that the reason SHE gets paired up with them is because of me most likely. She was upset when our placement matches for season 2 put her at gold and me at Platinum. "But we were on the same team, and we have the same record". I had to....nicely explain to her that it accounts for things like damage done, kill/death ratio, objective time, all the things you generally see medals for on the post game screen.

She's getting it though! She's not a bad lucio because she's a shifty fuck sometimes and it's hard to hit her, and lucio can heal passively, so it's a nice mix. Her Rein needs some work though, and she needs work with hitscan characters because she doesn't have the greatest aim. But her D.va is alright oddly. I guess the shotgun approach and not having to reload helps XD.

take it easy on insulting the regulars... not a good way to establish yourself... Quazz recently got back from Iraq, so he deserves all the respect in the world... take it easy on the flamewars overall.... just get a bit more low key

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borisof007FIRST Member Star(s)Indication of membership status - One star is a FIRST member, two stars is Double Gold
HR Manager, Engineering

12 years ago

where exactly in the basement to you go? Because there's like 3000 topics down there, a name would narrow the tedious search down a little

I gave you +3 for having enough sense to realize that in my journal. Fucking Rock! You sir look like a level headed individual. I try to rally the few of those we have struggling through these forums and direct them to the Basement where we only stupid for amusement. Rest assured, we can hold a good conversation if necessary and overall I think it's more fun in there... I suggest you head down and check the place out. Good to have you on the forums. Yo

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borisof007FIRST Member Star(s)Indication of membership status - One star is a FIRST member, two stars is Double Gold
HR Manager, Engineering